Simon ROBERTS

Simon ROBERTS

“Here is Normandy, her holidays and festivals, as seen by an Englishman. The Centre Photographique in Rouen commissioned Roberts to travel the regions of upper and lower Normandy as part of an ongoing project, started several years earlier and involving a selection of photographers, to focus on landscapes such as the ocean cliffs, the Seine valley, and regenerated urban areas. For his project, Roberts’ residency reveals a territory conceived of as a vast human landscape.

[…] In the physical space of his large-format photographs Simon Roberts crafts a generous, inquisitive and friendly portrait of Normandy and of those who wander her byways. His images, as they explore rural hamlets, beaches, and sports fields, reveal an unexpected and joyous diversity of customs and manners of “living” her landscapes.”

Raphaëlle Stopin, Director, Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie

(extracts)

Exhibitions

2023

Un air de vacances

Galerie Sit Down

09.08.23 – 10.21.23

Biography

Simon Roberts (b.1974) is a visual artist based in Brighton, UK. Widely recognised for his tableaux, large-format photographs of the British landscape, his practice also encompasses video, text and installation work, which together, interrogate notions of identity and belonging, and the complex relationship between history, place and culture.

He has exhibited widely and his photographs reside in major public and private collections, including the George Eastman House, Deutsche Börse Art Collection and Victoria & Albert Museum. In 2010 he was appointed the official British Election Artist by the House of Commons Works of Art Committee to produce a visual record of the General Election on behalf of the UK Parliamentary Art Collection; and in 2014 he represented Britain during the UK-Russia Year of Culture. He has been commissioned to make several large-scale public artworks and recognised with numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, the Vic Odden Award and grants from Arts Council England and the John Kobal Foundation.

Author of several critically acclaimed monographs including Motherland (Chris Boot, 2007), We English (Chris Boot, 2009), Pierdom (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013) and Merrie Albion – Landscape Studies of a Small Island (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2017), his work has also been profiled and published widely including in the New Yorker, Granta, National Geographic, ArtForum, Wallpaper, amongst others.

Roberts holds a BA Hons in Cultural Geography from The University of Sheffield, and is a regular public speaker and visiting lecturer. Outside of his own professional practice he is involved with several not for profit organisations having formerly served as a trustee of Photoworks and currently working as an ambassador for FotoDocument and the Positive View Foundation.

Selected press

  • Lydia Figes, “Ten artists to follow on Instagram in 2022“, Art UK, January 2022
  • Hana Kaluznick, “Pandemic Objects- The Sea”, V&A Museum, December 2020
  • Michael Prodger, “Election Artists”, The Critic, December 2019.
  • Giuseppe Scaraffia, “Cartoline dalle Italia”, iO Donna Magazine, June 2019.
  • Gemma Padley, “Best Shots”, RPS, June 2019.
  • Sarah Schmerler, “Photograph is 30”, Photograph, January-February2019.
  • Daniel Maidman, “Photographing the Nation: Simon Roberts at Flowers Gallery”, Whitehot Magazine, January 2019.
  • Ann Hermes, “Distance tells a story in Merrie Albion”, Christian Science Monitor, December 2018.
  • Connor, Goodwin, “In New York, peering through Simon Roberts’ eyes”, Blouin Artinfo, December 2018.
  • Simon Denison,“A Discontented Land,” Source, n°93, Spring 2018.
  • Travis Elborough, “Books Review – Merrie Albion”, The World of Interiors, May 2018.
  • Conor Risch, “Simon Roberts’ Landscape Photos Illuminate Post-Brexit Britain”, Photo District News, April 2018.
  • Renata Ferri, “So British,” Amica, April 2018.
  • Sylwia Serafinowicz, “Simon Roberts – Flowers Gallery exhibition review,”, Artforum, April 2018.
  • Stephen Clarke, “Merrie Albion book review,” Photomonitor, March 2018.
  • Lottie Davies, “Brit Crit,”, Pro Photographer, n°21, 2018.
  • Adrian Burnham, “You Blighted Kingdom“, The New European, January 2018.
  • Kitty Grady, “Snapshot – Merrie Albion“, FT Weekend, January 2018.
  • Tim Clark, “Top 10 Photobooks of 2017 – Merrie Albion”, 1000 Words, December 2017.
  • “Sean O’Hagan’s best photography books of 2017”, The Guardian, December 2017.
  • Rebecca Fulleylove, “Simon Robert’s photographs create a portrait of Britain over the last ten years“, It’s Nice That, 16 November 2017.
  • “London – Portfolio by Simon Roberts,” Hotshoe, Issue 200, October 2017.
  • Video Art Visions: (Re)framing Switzerland Part 2 – Summer, Nowness, May 2017
  • Video Art Visions: (Re)framing Switzerland Part 1 – Winter, Nowness, February 2017.